Washington, September 1 (RHC)-- Eight U.S. airlines have finally been approved for regular commercial flights to Havana.

An announcement by the U.S. Department of Transportation said after months of work by airlines, cities, and the U.S. government, selection of the companies beginning scheduled flights to Havana this fall had been finalized.

The eight U.S. carriers that will be flying to the Havana destination are Alaska Airlines, American Airlines, Delta Air Lines, Frontier Airlines, JetBlue Airways, Southwest Airlines, Spirit Airlines, and United Airlines.  The flights will provide service to Havana from ten U.S. cities. Those cites are Atlanta, Charlotte, Fort Lauderdale, Houston, Los Angeles, Miami, Newark, New York City, Orlando, and Tampa.

In its announcement, the U.S. Department of Transportation said a dozen U.S. airlines had applied for the chance to operate scheduled passenger service to Havana, and that collectively, the airlines had applied for nearly 60 flights per day to the Cuban capital, far exceeding the 20 daily flights made available by the arrangement between the two governments.

The decision, says the Transportation Department, allocates nonstop Havana service to areas with substantial Cuban-American populations, as well as to several aviation hub cities.